NL Competition cherry tomato

Following the success of recent commercial trials, production and marketing of Competition will be ramped up during the winter months

Vegetable seed developer Nunhems has confirmed that Competition will be the official name of its latest variety of cherry-on-the-vine tomato, following a naming ceremony at the premises of leading Dutch tomato grower RedStar.

The variety, which RedStar will market under the brand name Passion, is regarded by the company's directors Cor and Dirk van der Kaiij as a highly promising new product that can be grown either traditionally or under artificial light and is said to be very strong against cracking.

According to Nunhems, Competition bears superior-tasting, deep-red cherry tomatoes of approximately 11g-12g each, producing long vines with around 15-18 high-quality cherry tomatoes and offering a high yield of fruit throughout the season.

'Competition satisfies the high standards of RedStar and its buyers,' commented Dirk van der Kaaij. 'In terms of flavour, it is a variety that fits in perfectly with our other brands.'

Test sales through wholesale and retail channels have reportedly backed up RedStar's confidence in Competition, with the tomato apparently maintaing good shelf-life and appearance.'

This winter, RedStar plans to dedicate 3.3ha to the variety and will grow it for 12 months of the year.

Growing interest

Another Dutch grower, Ties Verbaarschot, plans to grow Competition on 3ha of land and sell it through his sales organisation Kompany.

'We market the Competition trusses under the brand name Sweet Honey,' he explained. 'This name was selected because the tomatoes are as sweet as honey.'

Harm Ammerlaan, tomato sales specialist at Nunhems, said Competition was among a number of new varieties the group was introducing to offer growers in developed markets an opportunity to add value.

'Competition is just one of the new tomato varieties that will be cultivated commercially in the coming season,' he revealed. 'For the next season, several growers have chosen for NUN 09008 TOF, a high yielding, high quality cluster tomato with an excellent taste. Furthermore we will introduce Monterrey, a very tasty cherry plum tomato for single harvest.'

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